Rack for flat articles



y 1951 c. B. SIMMONS 2,553,117

RACK FOR FLAT ARTICLES Filed Feb. 13, 1948 FIG. 1.

\ INVENT OR. Z4 mare/P a. ammo/v.5;

Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED v STATES PATENT OFFICE,

RACK FOR F L AT ARTICLES Clover B. Simmons, Qrooksville, Ohio r i I Application February 13,i4s,seria1No.s,140'

My invention relates to racks for flat articles, and more particularly to racks adapted for desk use and the support therein of letters, cards, blotters, papers, magazines and the like. Specifically, the invention relates to a rack of the type disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 701,368, filed October 4, 1946.

With the foregoing in view, an object of my invention is to provide an improved rack for fiat articles.

A further object is to provide an improved rack for flat articles which comprises means mounting a plurality of rack-providing members in a horizontally-disposed series with each member overlapping at least one adjacent member and cooperating therewith to provide an article-holding space therebetween.

Other objects and advantages reside in the particular structure of the device and the several elements thereof, combination and arrangement of the several parts, and will be readily understood by those skilled in the art upon reference to the attached drawings in connection with the following specification, wherein the invention is shown, described and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of a preferred form of the rack according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a front view thereof;

Figure 3 is a view like Figure 1, with the rackproviding members removed;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical section taken substantially on the plane of the line li of Figure 1; V

Figure 5 is a front view of a modified form of rack-providing member apart from the base;

Figure 6 is an elevation of the modification of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a plan view thereof.

in the drawings, wherein like reference characters have been used throughout the several views to designate like parts, and referring more particularly to Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, l0 designates generally any suitable base for the rack. The base it may be of any suitable form, but is preferably substantially flat and includes preferably a substantially flat upper surface I I. The upper surface H is provided with a series of grooves l2 formed therein which are arranged in the form of a longitudinally-disposed series and which are adapted to receive therein the rack-providing members 13.

The rack-providing members [3 may be of any suitable form and in the form illustrated comprise discs of any suitable resilient material. The lower 3 Claims. (pl'.211- 11) edges of the discs l3 are seated in the grooves I2 and secured therein by adhesive 14, Figure 4. The series of grooves I2 is preferably arcuate with the grooves tangential to the arc of a circle or ellipse, whereby when the discs l3 are seated therein, edge portions l5 of each disc resiliently engage an intermediate portion of an adjacent and overlapped disc, whereby to provide a substantially V-shaped article-holding space therebetween. Such V-shaped spaces I6 facilitate the entrance of an article into the space and the edge portions l5 cooperate with the intermediate portions of the adjacent disc to grip the article therebetween.

While I have shown the article-holding members I3 as being discs, it is obvious that they could be of other form. Moreover, it is within the scope of the invention to form the article-holding members in the form of annuli or analogous structure.

Referring now to Figures 5, 6 and 7, the articleholding members 23 disclosed therein are pro vided with substantially horizontally-disposed bottom flanges 2%, each of which is provided with one or more vertically-disposed apertures 25 therethrough for the accommodation of fastening members, not shown, for attaching the members 22 to any suitable base, not shown. The modified article-holding members 23 likewise are in the form of discs, but could obviously assume other shapes. This form of article-holding members is adapted to be arranged on a base in the same manner as are the members l3, whereby to provide overlapped edges and V-shaped articleholding spaces, such as the edges l5 and spaces iii of the form illustrated in Figure 1.

While I have shown and described what are now thought to be the preferred forms of the invention, it is obvious that the same is susceptible of other forms and expressions. Consequently, I do not limit myself to the precise structure shown and described hereinabove, except as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A rack for flat articles comprising a base, a plurality of substantially identical plane resilient members, means mounting said members on said base in upstanding relation thereto at angles to each other and in a horizontally disposed arcuate series, and said members angularly engaging and overlapping each other to provide a plurality of substantially V-shaped yieldable article-receiving channels between adjacent members.

2. A rack for flat articles comprising a base, a plurality of substantially identical resilient base, and means for securing one of said members 10 in each groove.

3. A rack for flat articles comprising a base, a plurality of substantially identical resilient plate like members, means mounting said member on said base in upstanding relation thereto at angles to each other and in a horizontally disposed arcuate series, said members overlapping and angularly engaging each other to provide a plurality of substantially V-shaped yieldable articlereceiving channels between adjacent members,

said means mounting said members comprising a substantially horizontally disposed bottom flange formed on each member, and means for securing each flange to said base.

CLOVER B. SIMMONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 334,532 Leaman Jan. 19, 1886 542,734 Johnson July 16, 1895 625,734 Bentley May 30, 1899 753,538 Bristow Mar. 1, 1904 1,248,760 Wallin Dec. 4, 1917 1,764,128 Straubel June 17, 1930 2,001,328 Kehoe May 14, 1935 

